Monday, 20 October 2014

Beyond the Five Senses: The Powers Latent in Humankind

Beyond the Five Senses:

The Powers Latent in Humankind

By ROBERT M. SCHOCH, Ph.D.

—

The traditional
five senses – sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch – are these the only
ways to perceive the world, to gain information, to experience reality? In fact
there are more than five senses, taking different forms, in various types of
organisms, including humans. For instance, humans can also sense balance and
acceleration, temperature, and pain due to nerve damage.

There are
other types of physiological receptors as well, some found in humans, some
found in other organisms. To cite just a few examples, directional awareness
based on Earth’s magnetic field occurs in birds and bacteria, various species
of fishes as well as dolphins can detect electric fields, and for many types of
fishes water pressure detection used to maintain buoyancy is critical.

But is there
something more than the sorts of physiological-based senses described in the
last paragraph? The answer to this question is of profound importance, as it
fundamentally divides the world into two philosophical and metaphysical camps.

On the one hand
we have the “physicalists-materialists” who believe there is nothing more to
reality beyond matter and energy as construed by classical physics and western
science more generally. This position devolves to a dogmatic scientism
(sometimes referred to as naturalism1) that posits the
so-called scientific method, involving empiricism, observations, and laboratory
experiments (generally with a heavy emphasis on measurements), as the only way
to gain knowledge.

On the other
hand, in sharp contrast to extreme scientism, are found a wide array of “ways
of knowing.” These include a diverse range of experiences with equally diverse
labels: religious insight, ecstasy, spiritual knowledge, meditative
contemplation, divine illumination, aesthetic and symbolic revelation,
visionary trances, out-of-body experiences, soul travelling, channelling of
supernormal entities, and so forth.

In sum,
scientism is often contrasted with spirituality, religiosity, and the
preternatural, supernatural, or supersensitive in all of their disparate forms.
Another way of putting this is that scientism denies any inner or beyond this
material world aspects, such as the concept of consciousness, that are divorced
from or in addition to physical matter and energy as perceived either directly or
indirectly (using appropriate instrumentation) via the five senses. Those
following the dogmatism of scientism often make a sharp distinction between the
objective and the subjective; based on my research, this is a false dichotomy
that often blurs under close scrutiny.

In terms of
the mind-body problem, scientism essentially denies that consciousness is
anything more than an epiphenomenon arising from physical-chemical processes
taking place in the brain. The alternative extreme view is that consciousness
exists outside of and beyond matter, and it is consciousness that in fact
infuses the universe and makes matter manifest. Based on his understanding of
modern physics, Amit Goswami (author of a standard textbook on quantum
mechanics2) has written:

“I propose
that the universe exists as formless potentia in myriad possible branches in
the transcendent domain and becomes manifest only when observed by conscious
beings.”3

It is not
only from a quantum mechanical point of view that one can reach the conclusion
that consciousness may be prior to matter. Erik Verlinde (Institute for
Theoretical Physics, University of Amsterdam) developed a new theory of gravity
based on the concept that the universe is essentially a holograph where the
structure of space-time emerges from information.4
Elaborating on Verlinde’s work, I came to the following conclusion:

“The most
fundamental aspect of the universe… is information. Information can be equated
with thought or mind or mental constructs independent of any material everyday
conception…. The universe of mass and energy and forces, as we experience it on
an everyday practical level, may have had its origin in a thought that inserted
information into an otherwise blank (data free) holographic system…. Inserting
more thoughts, more information, expands and changes the system…”5

For me the
bottom line is that not only can consciousness exist independent of matter, but
consciousness – thought, information – is prior to matter in a most fundamental
sense. This position is diametrically opposed to dogmatic scientism and opens,
even demands, the acknowledgment that not only is there more to reality than
can be perceived by the “five senses,” but in order to gain a complete picture
and understanding of reality we must gain knowledge in ways that go well beyond
the five senses, beyond the simplistic so-called scientific method. We need
philosophical, religious, transcendent experiences and the genuine knowledge
such experiences bring. Those who limit themselves to their material physiology
can never aspire to understand the ultimate nature and meaning of the universe.

This
assertion that consciousness is beyond matter is not just an empty statement
for me. We have latent powers to exercise, and such powers have been expressed
in a variety of contexts through the ages. Various forms of paranormal and
parapsychological experiences elicit and highlight these latent powers, most
often expressed as telepathic interactions (direct mind-to-mind, direct
consciousness-to-consciousness, connections) or psychokinetic interactions
(consciousness directly affecting matter and energy).6

Make no
mistake; telepathy and psychokinesis are genuine.7Remote
viewing, which is essentially telepathy and clairvoyance8 dressed
in modern terminology, has been successfully demonstrated over and over again
under controlled laboratory conditions.9

Indeed,
telepathy may be the most fundamental way to connect directly with the
universal consciousness, with the numinous, with the divine. What is silent
prayer but telepathy put to action to communicate with one’s god?

Numerous
techniques can be used to cultivate and elicit paranormal experiences,
experiences that scientism either dismisses or fails to take seriously, and
these have been developed within many different religious and cultural
contexts, from the rituals of tribal African societies to the yogis of the
Indian subcontinent to Zen practitioners to classic shamanism to séances in all
their diverse forms to western occult and esoteric studies.10
All, at their core, elicit different but complementary ways of gaining access
to legitimate knowledge that is beyond the five senses.

Footnotes

1. Alex
Rosenberg, “Why I Am a Naturalist”, 17 September 2011, article posted at: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/why-i-am-a-naturalist/?ref=opinion
(Accessed 26 September 2011); Timothy Williamson, “What Is Naturalism?”, 4
September 2011, article posted at: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/what-is-naturalism/
(Accessed 26 September 2011).2. Amit
Goswami, Quantum Mechanics (second edition), New York: McGraw-Hill,
1997.3. Amit
Goswami (with Richard E. Reed and Maggie Goswami), The Self-Aware Universe:
How Consciousness Creates the Material World, New York: Jeremy P.
Tarcher/Putnam, 1993 [paper trade edition, 1995], 141, italics in the original.4. Erik
Verlinde, “On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton”, paper dated 6
January 2010, 29 pages, available from http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1001/1001.0785v1.pdf
(Accessed 28 July 2010).5. Robert M.
Schoch, “Moving the Moai: Easter Island as a possible psychokinetic
laboratory”, Darklore, vol. 5 (2010), pp. 134-155, 268-270 [endnotes];
quotation from page 145.6. It has
not escaped my notice that some forms of paranormal and parapsychological
phenomena may ultimately be explainable, or at least partially elucidated, by
“conventional” physical and energetic systems, such as if for instance cases of
telepathy (or some forms of telepathy) are electromagnetic phenomena in the
extremely low frequency range. However, I am not convinced that all paranormal
and parapsychological phenomena can be explained using a purely
physicalist/materialist paradigm.7. The
reality of these phenomena has been established despite the numerous charlatans
who make fraudulent claims; as the saying goes, just because counterfeit money
exists, that does not mean genuine currency does not exist. For evidence
supporting the reality of paranormal and parapsychological phenomena, see:
Robert M. Schoch, “Thoughts Have Wings”, New Dawn, January-February
2011, page 11; Robert M. Schoch and Logan Yonavjak, compilers and commentators,
The Parapsychology Revolution: A Concise Anthology of Paranormal and
Psychical Research, New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2008; and
references cited therein.8. “Clear
vision,” or the reception of information about objects, persons, or events,
whether in the past, present, or future, by other than normal sensory means.9. Paul H.
Smith, “Remote Viewing: State of the Field”, Edgescience, Number 8,
July-September 2011, 13-16.

ROBERT M. SCHOCH received a Ph.D. in
Geology and Geophysics from Yale University, and since 1984 has been a
full-time faculty member at the College of General Studies of Boston
University. His books include the trilogy with R. A. McNally: Voices of the Rocks, Voyages of the
Pyramid Builders, and Pyramid
Quest. For more on the subjects covered in the above article, see The Parapsychology Revolution: A
Concise Anthology of Paranormal and Psychical Research (Compilation
and Commentary by Robert M. Schoch and Logan Yonavjak, Tarcher/Penguin, 2008).
Dr. Schoch’s personal website is located at: www.robertschoch.com

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